Wissant
Encyclopedia
Wissant is a seaside commune
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France
.
, at the junction of the D238 and the D940 roads, on the English Channel
coast.
formed by a storm-breach of the coastal dunes, probably in the mid-10th century, Wissant has been a fishing village for a millennium: along with Audresselles
it is the last fishing village in France to use a traditional method of fishing using a wooden boat called a flobart and was in the Middle Ages a major port for embarkation for England: In a mid-11th century Life of St. Vulganius, Wissant was specified, probably anachronistically, as the natural disembarkation point for the early eighth-century Celtic saint in his evangelizing travels. Wissant was the embarkation port of Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
, for his ill-fated invasion of England in 1173, with an army of 3000 Flemings. Henry III of England
of England was stranded at Wissant for lack of cash. According to Matthew Paris
(mid-13th century) its naucleri habitually interfered with English fishing fleets.
From the 7th to the 14th century, the local language was the West Franconian dialect called Old Dutch
and the village was called Witsant and reckoned part of Flanders
.
Shifting coastal sands silted up the harbor, at the same time that Calais
was rising in importance as a port towards the end of the 12th century. Grierson 1941:81. At the end of the 19th century, the coastal dunes of Wissant began to cover the seaside villas. During the 20th century, an entrepreneur
, Mr. Létendart from Calais
, extracted sand and gravel from the dunes to the west of Wissant, in the bed of the ancient lagoon. The huge excavations now form lakes and a nature reserve. At the time of the exploitation of these gravel pits, the bones of a complete mammoth
with its tusks were discovered by four workers.
In July 1909 Wissant stood at the centre of world-wide focus. Three contenders for the £1,000 Northcliffe prize offered by the Daily Mail
for the first heavier-than-air craft to cross the English channel
were camped along the coast between Calais
and Wissant. The Franco-Russian Comte Charles de Lambert
who had two Wright Flyers (Nos. 2 and 18) and was camped at Wissant.. While practising over the dunes he crashed heavily and cancelled his plans. Louis Blériot
won the prize and world-wide fame, from his camp at Calais.
Today, because of the frequent and usually favourable winds and the proximity of the TGV
railway station and the Eurostar
trains to Frethun
, Parisians call Wissant the "Mecca” of surfing
.
used this motive for his famous sculpture The Burghers of Calais
(1889).
The French President Charles de Gaulle had a small summer house in Wissant that still exists today.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Wissant is a fishing port and farming village situated some 14 miles (22.5 km) north of BoulogneBoulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, at the junction of the D238 and the D940 roads, on the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
coast.
History
Located at the eastern end of a lagoonLagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
formed by a storm-breach of the coastal dunes, probably in the mid-10th century, Wissant has been a fishing village for a millennium: along with Audresselles
Audresselles
Audresselles is a commune south of Cape Gris Nez in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.The commune covers about 2000 acres of cultivated lands, two beaches, and seashore cliffs...
it is the last fishing village in France to use a traditional method of fishing using a wooden boat called a flobart and was in the Middle Ages a major port for embarkation for England: In a mid-11th century Life of St. Vulganius, Wissant was specified, probably anachronistically, as the natural disembarkation point for the early eighth-century Celtic saint in his evangelizing travels. Wissant was the embarkation port of Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel....
, for his ill-fated invasion of England in 1173, with an army of 3000 Flemings. Henry III of England
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
of England was stranded at Wissant for lack of cash. According to Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
(mid-13th century) its naucleri habitually interfered with English fishing fleets.
From the 7th to the 14th century, the local language was the West Franconian dialect called Old Dutch
Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch denotes the forms of West Franconian spoken and written in the Netherlands and present-day northern Belgium during the Early Middle Ages. It is regarded as the primary stage in the development of a separate Dutch language...
and the village was called Witsant and reckoned part of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
Shifting coastal sands silted up the harbor, at the same time that Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
was rising in importance as a port towards the end of the 12th century. Grierson 1941:81. At the end of the 19th century, the coastal dunes of Wissant began to cover the seaside villas. During the 20th century, an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, Mr. Létendart from Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, extracted sand and gravel from the dunes to the west of Wissant, in the bed of the ancient lagoon. The huge excavations now form lakes and a nature reserve. At the time of the exploitation of these gravel pits, the bones of a complete mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
with its tusks were discovered by four workers.
In July 1909 Wissant stood at the centre of world-wide focus. Three contenders for the £1,000 Northcliffe prize offered by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
for the first heavier-than-air craft to cross the English channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
were camped along the coast between Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and Wissant. The Franco-Russian Comte Charles de Lambert
Charles de Lambert (aviator)
Charles, Count de Lambert, was an early European aviator.De Lambert was the first person in France to be taught to fly by Wilbur Wright. The first lesson took place at Le Mans on 28 October 1908...
who had two Wright Flyers (Nos. 2 and 18) and was camped at Wissant.. While practising over the dunes he crashed heavily and cancelled his plans. Louis Blériot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
won the prize and world-wide fame, from his camp at Calais.
Today, because of the frequent and usually favourable winds and the proximity of the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
railway station and the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains to Frethun
Fréthun
Fréthun is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A village located 3 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D215 and D246 roads...
, Parisians call Wissant the "Mecca” of surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
.
Personages
Jacques and Pierre de Wissant were, with four other, voluntarily hostages in the siege of Calais during the 100-year war, and on 4 August 1347 they went barefooted and dressed only with shirts and ropes around their necks to the English king who had intended to leave them to die as a retaliation for his losses in that siege. Only by Queen Philippa of Hainaut's request the six men were saved. Auguste RodinAuguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
used this motive for his famous sculpture The Burghers of Calais
The Burghers of Calais
Les Bourgeois de Calais is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin, completed in 1889. It serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year.-History:The...
(1889).
The French President Charles de Gaulle had a small summer house in Wissant that still exists today.
Population
Places of interest
- The church of St.Nicholas, dating from the fifteenth century.
- Le Typhonium, a villa built in Egyptian style.
- Two 17th century fortified manorhouses.
- An old watermillWatermillA watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, now a museum - The Commonwealth War Graves CommissionCommonwealth War Graves CommissionThe Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
cemetery.
External links
- Official Wissant website
- A Wissant website
- The history of Wissant
- Wissant on the Quid website
- The CWGC cemetery